Eels NRLW Team Were Electrifying In Their First Win At Home

By Danielle Smith

The Parramatta Eels have beaten the Gold Coast Titans 24-14 in another exciting and physical NRLW match at Commbank Stadium on Sunday.

It was a stellar performance from the blue and gold after their loss last weekend. Star fullback Bo Vette-Walsh put on a show for the home crowd and showed why she is one of the top players in the competition - scoring a try, making seven tackle breaks and two-line breaks, as well as breaking the record for most metres run in a match with 260.

Parramatta opened the scoring in only the 3^rd minute with halfback Maddie Studdon crossing for a four pointer. She was followed only six minutes later by Abbi Church, scoring her first NRLW try.

Trailing the Eels 8-0, Tamzin Gray added to her side's pressure, landing herself in the sin bin after being penalised and put on report for a crusher tackle. With only 12 players on the field, Gold Coast miraculously managed to claw their way back into the game, scoring two tries. Steph Hancock gifted herself the perfect 40^th birthday present with her first try under the posts, and teammate Hailee-Jay Maunsell added to the celebrations, scoring a try on debut and giving the Titans a 10-8 lead.

The game encountered a touch of controversy, with the half time siren accidently going off with 7 minutes left on the clock. The Titans with both possession and momentum, kicked the ball out on the full thinking it was half time, but unknowingly gifted the Eels a penalty.

Studdon added the extras to level the scores to 10-10 before the break, but thankfully it didn't have an impact on the outcome of the game.

The Titans were the first to strike in the second half, with Destiny Brill crossing for a try. It was all Parramatta from then on, running away with the game with tries to Curtain, Vette-Welsh and Pio.

Studdon had a horror day with the boot, converting only 1/5 goal attempts, with three hitting the uprights. In the end the goal kicks were not needed to secure the win.

The Titans were their own worst enemy on the field, lacking discipline and control. They lead the error count 13-9, and only managed a 58 percent completion rate.

In the post-match press conference, Titans coach Jamie Feeny couldn't hide his disappointment. "You never train to lose. Simple fundamentals cost us again, and we don't have too many more games to make up for it."

Titans captain Brittany Braeyley-Nati was equally frustrated. "We had a few individuals stand up and do some good things for us, but individuals can't win us the game, so we need to learn to put it all together as a team and come back better and stronger next week."

Eels coach Dean Widders was very happy with his team's performance and acknowledged how important the day was for the club. "To come here to Parra and play in front of a home crowd, we wanted to make it a good experience and it was really pleasing to see the girls dig deep out there. They deserve a great day like this, to see them soak it up at the end, their families all soak it all up, all the young girls watching in the crowd....this is a pretty big day for Parramatta and Western Sydney and young women in rugby league."

The Eels next face the Roosters in the round four double header at McDonald Jones Stadium. Both teams will want to keep the momentum going after securing wins this weekend.

The Titans will be hoping to turn their fortunes around when they take on the Brisbane Broncos next weekend at Cbus Stadium, their first ever match in front of their home crowd.